Christmas Command
by SacredOrder
Summary: The Hunters are in Giga City for the holidays and everyone is ready for the big day. Well, everyone except X. He has to get Nana a gift and then there's the part about feelings. He's at a lost but Zero is there with him and what are friends for?


Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man X or any of its wonderful characters.

A/N: Character thoughts will be in _italics._

**Christmas Command**

Lights sparkled brightly in red, blue, green, purple, yellow, and white. Their brilliance was only magnified by the falling snow that created a surreal atmosphere. The sound of children laughing, bells ringing, and the rustle and bustle of reploids everywhere signified a special time was near. The holiday spirit had come to Giga City and taken hold of the entire populace. With the date being Christmas Eve, the rush was on for everyone to finish their preparations.

Just as he stepped out of the store, he almost crashed into a reploid running down the sidewalk. Mega Man X, more commonly called simply X, stared at the reploid's retreating figure before his mind focused back on the task at hand. He needed a gift and he needed it fast.

_What am I going to do? I can't decide what to get her._ X stood in the middle of the sidewalk mentally reprimanding himself for being so indecisive and having not gotten a certain female reploid a gift. So deep in thought was X that he didn't see the figure approaching him.

"So X, why are you standing here in the snow like this?"

At the sound of the new voice X jumped but quickly recovered once he saw that it was none other than his best friend Zero. "Oh sorry Zero, I didn't see you walk up." X eyed Zero closely a moment before speaking again. "What are you doing here?"

Zero looked taken aback by X's question. "All have you know I was enjoying a nice stroll." X looked at Zero quizzically before both burst into laughter at Zero's obvious lie. "But seriously, Gaudile kicked me out of the training room. Said that I was destroying too many of the training bots. Now I'm wasting some time so he can rebuild them. What are you doing here?"

"I was just…looking around."

X couldn't lie to save his life and Zero saw right through this one. The only question was what was he hiding? Zero looked around and realized that they were in the shopping district of Giga City. He put on his trademark smirk once he realized what X was probably doing. "What were you doing before I walked up X?"

Something in Zero's voice told X that this situation was about to take a turn for the worst. "I was thinking."

"About who?"

X was about to answer the question when his mind registered what Zero had asked him. He felt his face become hot as he looked at his smirking friend. "Who said I was thinking about someone?"

Seeing X's reaction only confirmed what Zero had been thinking. "Still haven't got Nana a gift have you?" Zero said ignoring X's question. X could only drop his head. X couldn't express how glad he was to have a friend like Zero but sometimes having someone who knew you so well could be a little bit problematic. _Here comes trouble._

Zero threw his arm around his best friend's shoulder as he began to lead him down the sidewalk. "Don't worry bud. I'm here to help you out."

X's face shot up in surprise. He had not expected to hear Zero say that. He expected Zero to make fun of him or something along those lines. "Do you really mean that Zero?"

"Sure. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't." Zero's smirk turned into a full fledged grin. "Now if I was in your position I would go with some sexy lingerie."

X's face turned redder than the crystal in his helmet. He stopped walking and stood gaping at what his friend had suggested. "Z-Zero are you crazy?!"

"Think about it," Zero said trying to contain his laughter, "Lingerie on Christmas tells a woman two things. One care about her and two you think she's hot, and I know both of those are true for you. Right X?"

X turned an even deeper crimson than before as he dropped face to hide his embarrassment. He didn't want to agree with Zero but then again he couldn't disagree either so he remained silent. Zero laughed at what he was doing to X. X was just too easy of a target sometimes. Zero was about to continue with his teasing but the comm. inside his helmet alerted him to an incoming message. "Hold on a sec X." Zero walked a few feet away as listened to whoever was contacting him.

Zero walked back over to X after a few moments with a huge grin on his face. "Hate to jet on you X but Gaudile has the training room up and running again so I'm off to have some more fun."

X looked at him disbelievingly. "But what about helping me?"

"You're still worried about that gift. Women love jewelry so pick her up something like that. And don't forget about the Christmas party tonight." Before X could say anything else Zero waved at him and teleported away. X sighed heavily as he was left alone on the sidewalk. _Maybe I should take Zero'__s advice this time. I might be over thinking this, but__ I want to show h__er how much I care about her and__ maybe that's easier said than done._

**MMXMMX**

That night the Christmas party held at the Giga City base was in full swing. Various reploid officials from around Giga City were in attendance along with the famous heroes that had saved Giga City during the Maverick uprising. Massimo had achieved a status, in Giga City, that rivaled those held by X and Zero and he was surrounded by people who just wanted a chance to meet the legendary Steel Massimo. Massimo really enjoyed all the attention but the others tried to keep a slightly lower profile.

Marino was idly having a conversation with some male reploid who she guessed was interested in her but it was completely one sided. Marino became so bored with whatever he was talking about that she began scanning the room for a reason to get away from him. She spotted Axl across the room talking with Cinnamon and she couldn't help but smile. It was obvious that the young hunter had had a crush on her for a long time and from what Marino could tell Cinnamon had a crush on him also.

Marino was thinking that Axl might finally get up the nerve to ask her out but that idea was quickly pushed aside once someone moved out of Marino line of sight and she was able to see Gaudile was standing beside Cinnamon. _Poor kid, he'll never get up the nerve with daddy Gaudile there._

"That sounds wonderful." Marino said turning back to the reploid in front of her. He had stopped talking and Marino didn't want to be rude and tell him she couldn't care less about what he was talking about or at least she didn't want to do it at the moment. He took that as his indication to start rambling on again. Marino went back to scanning and room and spotted Zero talking with X. That instantly made her think of someone she hadn't seen yet.

Marino instantly began searching for the commander of Giga City, Nana. She saw her talking to an older looking reploid who Marino knew from seeing him around Giga City but couldn't place a name with at the time. "Excuse me babe," Marino said cutting off the talkative reploid, "But could you get me something to drink."

He readily agreed with her request and made his way off. Marino took the opportunity to make her way over to Nana. Nana saw Marino before she got to her and smiled and waved to her friend. Apparently finished with their conversation, the older reploid gave Marino a slight nod and made his way over to converse with other guests.

"Hey Marino, I hope your enjoying the party." Nana said smiling.

"Sure, you know these social events are my type of thing." Marino replied sarcastically.

"Ah come on Marino. It's not that bad. Just get out there and talk to people and you're bound to find at least one person you can at least tolerate."

"Yeah maybe…" Marino said looking off. "So what did you get him?"

"W-what?" Nana said exasperatedly. The suddenness of her question had caught her with her guard down. "Who are you talking about?" Nana said trying to recover.

Marino leaned in closer to Nana with a sly smile on her face before she answered. "So you're blushing right now because you don't know who I'm talking about?"

Nana turned her away from Marino as she felt her cheeks become even hotter. She had not even realized she was blushing until then. Marino was very perceptive and Nana's feelings for X had not escaped her. Nana looked guiltily back at Marino as if she had done something wrong. Nana stole a quick glance across the room at X before she began talking to Marino.

"It's not much but after a month of work I was able to install some thrusters onto his Fire armor and I got him this book about philosophy I have heard him mention before." When Marino didn't immediately give her a reaction, Nana felt a little panicked. "I wanted to get him something really great but what do you give a living legend on Christmas?" Marino sighed heavily as she looked at her love struck friend.

On the other side of the room X was still having doubts about his gift. X had followed Zero's advice and gotten Nana a beautiful diamond necklace with a sapphire set in the middle. There was no doubt in his mind that it was beautiful and he was pretty sure she would like it but he still felt that it lacked a certain…something.

"Don't worry about it." Zero said interrupting his thoughts. "I'm sure she'll love it." X sometimes wondered if Zero could read his mind because of how he always seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Yea…" X responded half-heartedly.

"She's right over there X. Why don't you go over and talk to her?"

X looked in the same direction as Zero and saw the woman who he cared so much about. He looked down at the floor and moment and then back at Zero. "I would go over but she's talking with Marino right down and I wouldn't want to intrude on them."

Zero sighed heavily and slowly pulled his hand down his face in an attempt to wipe away the frustration that was evident on his face. "X…sometimes I really do believe you're hopeless." Before X could mount a defense for himself Zero held up his hand to silence him. "Lucky for you that I'm here. I've got the perfect plan to win Nana over. Just meet me in the Command Center in five minutes."

Zero's trademark grin had reappeared when he finished and X wasn't sure that was a good thing. Zero could tell from the look on his face exactly what he was thinking. "Don't worry X, I promise no jokes this time. Command Center in five minutes. Okay?" Not seeing any sign of rejection from X, Zero began to make his way through the crowd of people as he headed to the door. X was left imagining just what crazy idea Zero had in mind for him this time. What X didn't see was the ever-so-slight look Zero shot across the room to Marino just before he left.

**MMXMMX**

X made his way through the empty corridors of the base heading towards the Command Center. One part of him told him not to fall for another one of Zero's pranks but the other side told him that Zero just might be serious this time. When X reached the door he hesitated before opening it. He had taken closer to fifteen minutes to reach his destination because of his minor internal conflict. He wondered if Zero was still waiting for him. _Not going to find out standing outside._

X opened the door and was greeted by an unexpected surprise. The Command Center had been decorated for Christmas. Garland of silvery white and copper gold adorned various equipment throughout the room. Wreaths decorated with miniature bows and hollies were affixed to the back of the chairs in the room. Artificial snow covered the floor of the room and multicolored lights ran along the ceiling.

X really felt like he had left Giga City base and stepped into another world, but where was Zero? Suddenly X saw one of the chairs move and realized someone was sitting in it.

"Marino what took you so long I was…" The pink haired commander of Giga City stopped when she realized it wasn't Marino she was talking to. "X...?"

"Nana?"

"What are you doing here?" They said in unison. Both looked away slightly embarrassed at what they had just done. Luckily the decorative lights of the room hid any sign of the blush on their faces.

"What are you doing up here Nana? I thought you were down at the party." X said recovering himself.

Nana looked back up and her eyes locked with the spheres of emerald perfection that captivated her so. X, in her eyes, was perfect in every way. He was gentle, caring, and had the biggest heart she had ever seen. Even though some called him naïve for holding onto his ideals, Nana really admired him for doing so. Reploids could be made to look any way but X was cute yet handsome at the same time.

It was at that moment that Nana realized X was still waiting on an answer from her. "I was at the party but I came up here because Marino needed to talk to me. Almost as soon as we got here though, Marino got a call from Zero saying he needed to talk to her about something important so she told me to wait here until she came back."

X was slightly laughing when Nana finished and she was not sure why. "I think we have been set up," X said smiling, "Because Zero told me to meet him up here too." Nana couldn't help but laugh as well now that she understood what was going on. Both of them had a nosey and somewhat pushy friend that was trying to get them together. When they stopped laughing the tension in the room had all but dissolved and they were able actually look at each other without blushing like teenagers.

"Zero can be a little much at times, but I think he was right this time."

Nana looked at X a little confused as to what he meant. "What do you mean by that X?" she asked curiously.

"Nana…" X said as his eyes came to rest on her own, "It's something…umm…what I mean is…" X rubbed the back of his head nervously as he fumbled with his words. X took a deep breath to steady himself before he continued talking. "Nana what I mean to say is that there's something I have wanted to tell you."

_Something he's been wanting to tell me? Could he mean…No Nana! Don't get your hopes up yet. Just stay calm and listen to what he has to say._ Despite what Nana was telling herself she had unconsciously taken a step towards X. Her subconscious act may have been brought on by the fact that X was slowly making his way over to her as he talked.

"Nana as you know I've been fighting the Mavericks for years now. During that time I never took any down time. I never took the time out to…really enjoy life. I was living from one battle to the next with a constant feeling of lost and emptiness. I couldn't understand why I was feeling that way for the longest of time but I think I understand now. I've always known what I was fighting for but I never knew who I was fighting for. Dr Cain once said that fighting for a righteous cause could be a source of power but fighting for someone you care about was greater than that."

Nana listened intently as he spoke. Having X open up to her was unexpected and she certainly didn't want to say anything that might ruin this moment. "I didn't know the meaning of what he said then but now I do. Love. Fighting for someone I love is when I would be able to realize my true potential. That was the emptiness I had felt but it's gone now."

Nana could have sworn that the world just froze. Everything had stopped in that one moment and refused to move forward. _Oh God, what do I do now! Nothing, he hasn't said anything yet. But I think he means…Wait for him to say it then you can flip out._

X took her hands in his and Nana realized just how close they were. Nana was blushing profusely now and she was sure that X could tell because she felt as though she would glow in the dark at the moment. "Nana you're perfect. You're sweet, smart, funny, brave, compassionate, and beautiful. Any day I'm able to see you I can say at least something good happened to me."

Under other circumstances Nana would be too embarrassed to look at him, but his gaze held her. It made her unable to look away or move. If anything it was slowly drawing her in. "Nana your eyes sparkle brighter than any light or decoration anyone could put up. Dr Light created me and Dr Cain got me out of my capsule, but Nana you are the one who brought me to life. What I'm trying to say is…I love you."

The tears began to fall as soon as the words left his mouth. Nana couldn't help it. She had been trying to hold them back but her emotions got the better of her. X really didn't know how to take this. A thousand thoughts went through his head as to what he could have said to make her cry but nothing was making sense to him.

"Nana I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." X said worriedly

"Don't apologize." Nana said trying to calm down. Nana wrapped her arms around X in a tight embrace as she laid her head on his chest. X slowly followed suit by putting his arms around her but he was still a little unsure of what to do. When Nana calmed down she pushed away from X so she could look him in the face.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

The confused look on X's face slowly dissolved into a smile upon realizing what Nana meant. "So…are you saying…?" X said slowly.

"Yes!" Nana said smiling. "Mega Man X, I love you."

X felt the heaviest burden in the world come off his shoulders. He felt rejuvenated beyond anything he had felt before and he knew he was the luckiest android in the world. X was so overjoyed he picked Nana up and spun in circle with her. When he set her down Nana was giggling happily and had to lean on him to steady herself. When she met X's gaze again he was smiling and his eyes where soft but there was more. There was more they wanted to say to each other but not now.

The two held hands and gazed to each other eyes in silence as wordless feelings and emotions passed between them. That was until the rest of the lights in the room suddenly came on causing both of them to look up.

"What is that?" X said squinting at the ceiling to get a better look.

Nana knew what he was talking about as soon as she saw it. "X, it's mistletoe." Nana said smiling shyly. 'Someone' had hung mistletoe along the ceiling throughout the entire room. X was riding a wave of confidence and he knew that he couldn't let the moment pass. X locked eyes with her and pulled her closer to him. He slowly lowered his head towards her and she braced her hands on his chest and lifted up on her toes to move closer to him.

X and Nana hesitated mere breaths apart until the last bit of uncertainty washed away. Their lips met and electricity shot through both of them. The kiss was soft and sweet at first but as more emotions poured in Nana wrapped her arms around X's neck and pulled deeper into his kiss. X's arms found their way around her waist and pressed her body against his.

Nana was wrong when she thought the world had stopped earlier, but she was sure of it this time. She was sure it had stopped to allow them this one perfect moment in time. When they finally pulled apart X saw that her face was flushed but she had never looked more beautiful. They smiled at each other before embracing again. Both were relishing in the feeling of having the one they loved in their arms.

"You know we might have to go back to the party pretty soon." X said sadly. He really didn't want to go and if Nana disagreed he would be more than happy to stay here with her. Nana could tell he didn't want to go but she reluctantly agreed with him because being the commander of Giga City meant she really couldn't just disappear from a party at the base.

"Yeah, they're probably wondering where we are right now. But look at it like this," Nana said trying to cheer him up, "At least we're not going back alone." X smiled lovingly at her and laced his hand with hers as they left the Command Center heading back to the party.

"You know," X said as he gave Nana's hand a slight squeeze, "This is the best Christmas ever."

Nana smiled and moved closer to him. "I feel exactly the same."

**MMXMMX**

Not long after X and Nana left, Marino and Zero crawled out of their hiding places behind some equipment in the room. Both had smiles on their faces because their plan had worked to get X and Nana together.

"Told you my plan would work." Marino said smugly smiling.

"Lucky for you that you called me earlier or it wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Bet you didn't know you were going to see a Christmas miracle." Zero said grinning.

"Yea whatever. Those were some pretty nice lines you gave X with the whole sparkling lights and bring him to life stuff."

"That wasn't me." Zero said shaking his head. "That was all X. I thought they were pretty cheesy myself but…"

"Shut up." Marino said turning towards the door.

"Hey wait Marino!"

"What is it Zero?" Marino said looking back over her shoulder.

"You know," He said grinning, "We're standing under mistletoe too."

Marino rolled her eyes as Zero snickered to himself about teasing her. Snickering which stopped when he felt two hands cup his face and soft lips press against his own. The kiss was over almost before he realized it and Zero was left with a shocked look on his face as Marino sauntered away from him. "I'm going back to the party." She stated without looking back.

The sound of his fast approaching feet made her stop and look back. Zero stopped beside her with his composure regained and grin back on his face. "I'll escort you." He said holding out his arm for her to take. Marino took hold of his arm as Zero lead her back out the door.

As they walked down the hall Marino stole a quick glance at the Crimson Hunter. Then she remembered what Nana had said to her. _Maybe Nana was right. Maybe there is one person at this party who I can at least 'tolerate'._

_A/N__: Yay__ for Mega Man X and Christmas! Here's wishing you all a very **Merry Christmas**!_


End file.
